Our new pattern and inspiration room tour

On Saturday we celebrated the official opening of the lovely new addition to our shop here in Birmingham - our pattern and inspiration room!

Over the summer we have been slowly converting what used to be a little courtyard garden, that we didn't have much use for anymore, into a gorgeous space where you can get really immersed in the inspiration and planning part of dressmaking!

In my latest Youtube video I'm chatting all about it and showing you around - you can check it out below, or read on for lots of pictures, including our warm and cosy new Autumnal window display!

The space feels really different from the rest of the shop and I was conscious I wanted the focus to be on helping our lovely customers to get inspiration, learn new things, get new ideas and consider patterns and projects that perhaps they didn't think of before.

We've got so many samples made up using a wide range of the indie patterns that we stock in the shop. From dresses, tops and tunics to jeans, skirts and lighter weight jackets, there is so much to see!

We've got a full length mirror there for you to hold fabrics or samples up and imagine what they might look like on you.

One of the most common things that we help our customers with is selecting the right type of fabric to match a pattern. I know it can be hard to imagine what a fabric might look like made up as a garment when you see it wrapped around a bolt of fabric on a shelf, so we have a nice selection of different fabric samples hanging up with some information about them - what to make with them and tips on sewing with them.

The amazing pattern wall makes me so happy and I think all the colours and designs look great on display like this. We've organised them by pattern company and then started to add little sign posts for newer patterns or ones that are good for beginners as I can appreciate it might look a bit overwhelming if you aren't sure where to start!

While you are taking it all in and working out your dressmaking plans we've got a comfy little seating area with books to browse and our guest book to leave us a little note if you wish.

And finally, our sewing machine station helps customers know that we offer workshops and highlights some sewing projects and fabric pairings on the notice board. I'm planning on making the ideas nice and seasonal.

Our new Autumnal window display

Now that the schools are back and we are well and truly into September we also changed our window display last week too. Jo has designed another gorgeous display - all themed around warm autumn colours and cosy jumpers.

We've got three main garments in the window this time. This is the Megan Nielsen Jarrah jumper using our pink glitter sweat shirting fabric. It's a loose fitting drop shoulder jumper that comes with several variations in the pattern. The cowel is a separate addition and a simple loop of fabric joined up.

This is the Sew House Seven Toaster version one, sewn up in some snuggly burgundy cosy colours sweatshirting. I love the top stitching detail on this!

And finally we made a version of the classic Grainline Linden sweater using some loopback modal jersey. This fabric is lighter weight than a regular sweat shirting fabric so gives the garment a different feel and style as it hangs differently. I think it just shows how versatile this pattern can be!

I love the props and details in this window. We've used the fabric pumpkins again, which are perfect for this time of year along with these maple leaf paper fans in autumnal colours.

There is something about seeing fabric hanging up and draping that really makes me want to sew it so I love these gorgeous fabrics hanging down from embroidery hoops.

I hope you've enjoyed my tour of how the shop is looking at the moment! Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments!